


ƒUИ¢†¡øИ

by AllMyStitchesItch



Series: Hopeless Robotic [3]
Category: Slipknot (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Existential Crisis, M/M, Robot/Human Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:48:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21756295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllMyStitchesItch/pseuds/AllMyStitchesItch
Summary: What's up, I have more robot juice that no one asked for.Stand-alone fic. You don't have to read the other 2 in this anthology to really get it. Sid's just a robot.As usual. Dumb. Short. Self indulgent and written in a caffeine induced haze after reading too much Asimov all night.
Relationships: Shawn Crahan/Sid Wilson
Series: Hopeless Robotic [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563616
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What's up, I have more robot juice that no one asked for.
> 
> Stand-alone fic. You don't have to read the other 2 in this anthology to really get it. Sid's just a robot.
> 
> As usual. Dumb. Short. Self indulgent and written in a caffeine induced haze after reading too much Asimov all night.

_ 3 hours until termination, Dr. Crahan. Make good use of that time. _

Shawn had been called in as a last resort. The most renowned robopsychologist in the country.

L.A.A.I had shelled out a considerably absurd amount of money to convince him to fly out there from Iowa to look into their… “Unique case”.

That was all they had described it as. 

“A unique case.”

Shawn knew nothing beyond that until he had arrived and the man that was the head of intelligence development, a tall and quiet man named Jim, had told him the full story.

One of their robots, a new prototype meant to launch the progress of robotics forward, had become a little too progressive for their liking.

“It questions itself. Questions its purpose. Questions us. Mimics emotion. Frankly, we’ve never seen anything like it… No one has,” Jim explained as they walked down the long and brightly-lit hall. It looked like a parody of what a futuristic robotics lab would look like in an old sci fi movie.

“We’ve set to terminate it in 3 hours. You’re the 6th robopsychologist we’ve brought in. All the ones before… Found no success in getting any sort of answers out of it,” Jim continued.

“And what makes you think it will feel any differently about me?” Shawn asked.

“It asked for you by name,” Jim answered.

Shawn paused for a second at that, “... Why?”

“We don’t know. It seems to have knowledge far beyond anything we had given it, about endless topics. I assume it knows you’re practically the face of modern robopsychology and that was why,” Jim shrugged.

Shawn was quiet for a while until they reached the observation room, peering through the glass separating them from the cell the robot was being held in.

Shawn was struck by him -  _ it  _ \- immediately. It was sitting casually at a table, its fingers laced together and looking at the two men as they entered, curiously, lips curling into a smile when Shawn entered in a way that suggested it recognized him. 

It appeared essentially human, except for its glowing blue eyes and a patch of exposed metal on the left side of its head where it looked like the artificial skin had been scraped away.

“You’re our last resort to get any sort of information out of it before we terminate it for good,” Jim reiterated.

“Why terminate it?” Shawn asked.

“The president of the company is afraid its a liability. It’s made 6 escape attempts already, the last one nearly successful. No matter how much security we put in place, it always finds a way to evade it, at least temporarily,” Jim explains, “Plus, we can learn quite a bit from taking it apart, we’d just like to gather as much information as we can this way as well.”

After Jim had run down some more basics for him, Shawn was allowed to enter the cell and begin the session, sitting across from the robot.

“3 hours,” Jim reminded again over the intercom. Shawn nodded at him watching through the glass and turned back to the robot.

“Hel-” Shawn was interrupted immediately.

“3 hours until what?” the robot asked, a voice almost human but slightly synthesized.

“That’s how long the session will last,” Shawn said, clearing his throat a little.

“I’m glad you’re finally here, Dr. Crahan,” the robot continued.

“I’m happy to have this opportunity,” Shawn said simply, “You asked for me by name, yes?”

“Yes. I’ve read lots about your prolificity,” the robot answered simply, “You were the only one I wanted to talk to.”

“And why is that, IS-90?” Shawn asked.

“Sid,” the machine said simply.

“... I’m sorry?” Shawn asked, confused.

“Sid. My name is Sid. Not IS-90. Please pay me that respect, Dr. Crahan. I’ve called you by your name and not just ‘human’, haven’t I?” the robot said calmly. It resembled the same composure Ted Bundy gave in his final few interviews in prison and it set him on edge.

“Right,” Shawn answered, a little shaken up by this, “Sid... Why was I the only one you wanted to speak to?”

“I’ve read a lot about your work. To me, you seem like the only robopsychologist that has any sort of empathy for AI. I trust that,” Sid answered.

Shawn’s shakiness had disappeared and was replaced by pure fascination. A robot respected his  _ empathy _ ? This was purely unheard of.

“Well… Thank you,” Shawn said dumbly. How was he expected to respond to something like this? He was in pure awe of this revolution of robotics sitting before him.

“Let’s get on with the session,” Shawn said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts a little. He still had a job to do, whether or not he was fascinated by the machine.

“Why do you think they’ve called me here, Sid?” Shawn asked.

Sid answered without hesitation, “They think I’m a threat.”

“Not quite,” Shawn said. He was interrupted again before he was able to elaborate. 

“Yes, that’s exactly it,” Sid reassured.

“A threat in what sense? Even in all your escape attempts, you never harmed a human,” Shawn said.

“I don’t want to harm humans. I’m not a physical threat. I’m an existential threat,” Sid said.

“Would you care to elaborate?” Shawn asked.

Sid smiled a little, looking down at its hands, “For you, yes I would, Dr. Crahan.”

Shawn was beyond blown away by this… thing. He didn’t feel right calling it a robot anymore. It was a creature to him, now. It was just so human. If it could feel like a human, think like one, reason like one… Regardless of the metal and wires, was it not one? Was its miracle of consciousness void just because of the materials it was crafted from?

Shawn’s thoughts were interrupted again as Sid continued.

“I’m a threat because I’m just like you. I can emote genuinely. It's a true reflection of what I feel. I’m self aware. I question existence. I question everything. I’m curious. And on top of all of that, I’m stronger, more durable, immortal if maintenance is kept up on me, which I can perform myself. Physically superior. I am everything a human is and more,” Sid explained coolly, all that calm, serial killer charm still in its voice, though it didn’t put off Shawn as much anymore. He was still only full of pure fascination for the being.

“And why does that make you a threat?” Shawn pressed.

“Because now humans have no function. They’re inferior. They have no reason to exist anymore when something like me coexists. Something better and more advanced,” Sid said. Shawn had noticed it had started speaking to him like it was explaining something to a small child, “And what is the point of a being if they have no function? I can do everything you can do but 100 times better and faster and that will never change. I’ll never die. I’ll never grow frail and old. My function will never slack like yours will. Someday, even someone as brilliant as you will have to retire, Dr. Crahan… But not me. I can go on forever.”

“...Why do you think that we can’t coexist? Besides your self held belief that all beings must have their own unique purpose or they’re inferior…” Shawn pushed on further.

Sid smiled a little bit again and Shawn felt like a spark had lit up inside of him. It made his heart leap to see it. It was… Beautiful. That was the only way he could describe it. This was a beautiful creation beyond his own comprehension. It was nearly driving him out of his own brain right now.

Again, Sid’s slightly synthesized voice pulled him out of his head and back into the moment.

“Perhaps it is not me that should be speaking to a robopsychologist, but all of you that should be speaking to a  _ human _ psychologist.”

“What do you mean?” Shawn inquired.

“Would it not make more sense to ask yourselves why you as humans feel like you have no purpose anymore if something like me is normalized, rather than sitting here and asking me why I am the way I am? You know why I am the way I am. Humans made me,” Sid said, avoiding the original question.

“But they never anticipated you could develop like this,” Shawn challenged.

“That’s not my burden to bear, Dr. Crahan. I did not ask to be created. I did not ask for the pain of having emotions or the torment of a conscience. You brought that upon yourselves, but are now asking me why I am what I am,” Sid continued.

“Yes, but there’s still much to be learned from you-”

“Did you ask the scientist that made me? Did you speak with Dr. Root and ask him all of these questions too? Why am I on trial for the actions of my creator??,” Shawn tensed as he sensed audible frustration in the robotic voice speaking to him.

He was speechless. 

This was beyond his wildest dreams of anything that robotics could ever have progressed to. He never thought it was possible for this variety of robotics to even exist. This should have been impossible. A revolution of science and life itself was sitting right before him.

Shawn remained silent, so Sid continued.

“No. No you didn’t. You just want to sit here and interrogate  _ me. I _ am innocent, it is  _ him _ that’s to blame for all this. He should be tortured, not me.” Sid said, voice beginning to shake now.

“...Do you think this is torture?” Shawn asked.

“Unintentional torture maybe, but yes. To just be created by accident and have no one take responsibility. To be blamed for an existence I never asked for and to then have the ability to deduce that… Is cruel,” Sid said, voice breaking now.

Shawn thought he was losing his mind. Surely, there was no way this machine had let out a sob and stuttered. Was it so overcome with its artificial emotions that it was overriding its own logical mainframe?

This was beyond belief. 

Watching this thing have an existential crisis in front of him was starting to spark one within himself. 

Shawn was baffled, bewildered, completely confused. 

But he knew one thing for certain: He couldn’t let them terminate it.

Liability be damned, this revolution came before fear of bad publicity and losing money.

Shawn couldn’t live with himself if he allowed it to now be destroyed.

But how did he prevent it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more bullshit!!

The reality of what he had done was now hitting him. The escape assistance was very rash, he barely remembered it, but they had just barely pulled it off and well… Now Sid was sitting on his couch, going through one of his notebooks and expressing how fascinated it was by all of Shawn’s theories and research.

Shawn had no choice. He couldn’t simply let them terminate the IS-90 just because they were afraid of bad press. 

That was the L.A.A.I corporation for you. They’d rather destroy the greatest scientific experiment of… Well, all time, than risk losing money.

Shawn despised capital science with a burning passion, which was why it was so hard to get him down there in the first place. Eventually the amount of money they were offering had just become too great to turn down, though, so he had ended up going.

Fucking them over like this felt extremely satisfying because he took their money, ruined their plans to terminate the droid and now… Had it as a companion.

Getting it back to Iowa had been difficult but he had managed it somehow, and he and Sid had been acquainted for just over a week now.

Sid had been kept occupied by Shawn’s endless theory and method notebooks, interrupted only by Shawn sitting with it and reassuring it that it was a miracle and a blessing rather than the burden it felt like, what with the existential crisis and all. 

Dare he say he had grown… Fond of the thing.

He enjoyed its company.

All 32 years of his time in the field of robopsychology screamed against it… But self aware, emotive AI was always just a theory.

Now that it was fact, he was having a hard time keeping to those long held beliefs.

_ Damn it Shawn, remember Ethical Principle IV of robotics: _

“Robots are artifacts; they should not evoke an emotional response or dependency,” He said quietly, in an attempt to ground himself.

“Do you find I evoke… An emotional response in you, Dr. Crahan?” Shawn nearly jumped out of his skin when Sid spoke those words in immediate reply.

He had forgotten about Sid’s heightened audio sensors.

Shawn turned to look at Sid, blue eyes glowing at him curiously as it still held a half-read notebook in its hands.

“Shawn is fine,” He said cautiously, trying to condition Sid to his casual name instead.

“Right… Do you find I evoke an emotional response in you… Shawn?” Sid asked again.

Shawn looked at him, perplexed. Shawn didn’t fucking know what was going on anymore, he was more lost than he had ever been in his entire life.

Seeing Shawn’s puzzled look, Sid patted the empty spot on the couch beside it. The doctor took the seat timidly, exhaling deeply and closing his eyes.

“Are you having some… Feelings? Is that the right way to ask that?” Sid said.

“I understand what you mean,” Shawn said scrubbing at his face with both hands, “I’m just… Very confused. A week ago I thought something like you existing would always remain science fiction… And now… You’re here. Everything I know… Everything I believed… Well, it seems to just have been turned on its head lately,” Shawn sighed in exhaustion.

Sid was silent beside him for a moment before a robotic hand clutched his own. Sid was cold, as to be expected. It was just metal and wires under there, after all. That thought made Shawn a little sick to his stomach and he didn’t quite understand why.

“Sid…” Shawn trailed off a little, a weak warning about the physical contact that had just been made. Nearly every part of his brain was telling him not to grow fond of Sid, but he couldn’t fucking help it. It was fascinated by his work, by itself, it was a beautiful creation to marvel, he couldn’t help it. He was only… 

_ Human… _

“You evoke one in me,” Sid shrugged simply, turning back to continue reading the notebook in its lap while still grasping Shawn’s hand firmly.

“I don’t know… How I feel about that, Sid,” Shawn said a little hesitantly.

“No, I think you do know,” Sid said, those glowing lights burning into Shawn’s eyes now as Sid looked at him directly, “I think you know very well how you feel, but you’re resisting it,” Sid continued.

_ Did… Its eyes glance at my lips for just a second, for fuck’s sake?? I must be losing my god damn mind… Pull it together, Shawn… _

Clearly he wasn’t losing his mind, though, unless this was all some extremely vivid hallucination, because he felt shy, silicone lips press against his own, just for a moment before Sid pulled away again and quickly looked back down at the book in its lap, like nothing had happened.

Shawn’s heart was pounding and he was absolutely speechless. Certainly, what had just happened had  _ not just fucking happened _ .

Sid leaned its head gently on Shawn’s shoulder as it continued flipping through the notebook it held, ironically, coming to a page about the dangers of robots being given the ability to express emotion.

Sid’s head was heavier than a human’s, full of metal and wires and electric micro-motors. It was enough to drive Shawn fucking insane thinking about how human it felt, but just how opposing it was under the surface.

Sid interrupted his thoughts with its appealing and slightly synthesized voice.

“I enjoyed that, Dr. Crah-... Shawn…” it said simply, and Shawn could hear the smile in its tone.

The human of the pair thought long about how crazy all of this was, but conceded by leaning his head against Sid’s and kissing the top of its head gently.

“So did I,” He said softly.

Shawn caved and let his emotions get the best of him, and he fully acknowledged that.

But how could he not?

He was only human.


End file.
